Bible VR/Augmented Reality
This post doesn't have much to do with FaithLife per se, save for the fact that they are one of the leaders in Bible technology. As I was watching a 30 second video of Sardis from the FaithLife Study Bible, it occurred to me how amazing it would be to have a Bible VR experience/commentary/course. For reference, see this: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us/apps/HoloTour
How amazing would it be to have a Hololense or VR tour of Jerusalem that integrated Bible teaching? The utopian dream would be to have a VR reading of the Bible which you could pause and get commentary. For instance, suppose there was a Gospel of John project. The Bible content itself could follow along the lines of "The Gospel of John" word-for-word adaptation by David Batty (Lionsgate). At the end of each chapter you could have the option to hear a commentary/teaching summary by a scholar in that field (say, DA Carson for John, Keener for Acts, etc.) or you could ask questions in real time which would pause the content and a narrator would read out an answer. For instance, suppose FaithLife produced this VR product and so when you were going through Revelation 2 and heard about "Nicolatians" you asked "Who were the Nicolatians?" and the program would narrate to you the relevant section from the FaithLife Study Bible.
Anyway, just a fanciful idea that occurred to me. Thought I would throw it out there just in case there is a billionaire entrepreneur lurking the forums who would like to pick up this project.
Potato resting atop 2020 Mac Pro stand.
Comments
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I have often thought similarly... Some context: I am a 24 year old, just graduated student, from Oregon State University. I received my degree in psychology and one of the final courses I took was a special topic course on Human Computer Interaction (H.C.I.- technically an established research arm of the school's Electrical and Computer Engineering program).
Throughout the course it became evident that the current trend in industry is toward VR/Augmented Reality (although it was expressed that the pros and cons are not fully understood at this point). It struck me immediately that this was a tool of great value to the academic body of the Church... and it solved very real problems I would encounter in my use of Logos Bible Software, especially as I was mobile. One such problem is the lack of screen real estate (a problem that is not encountered nearly as much on desktop use and to a diminished effect on laptops); as I travel I do not often have the luxury of space to use my laptop so I will often use my Samsung S7; but as mentioned, there is little screen real estate. VR/ AR will provide a nearly limitless amount of screen real estate as you could open new windows and pin them around the environment (I already do this to an extent with my Samsung Gear VR- Netflix App where I can position the screen anywhere with relative ease).
As you mentioned J.R.B., a huge allure of this technology is that it would allow for experiences. If there is one thing that people most often lament about (in my experience), in regards to scripture study and devotionals, is how far removed they feel from the world of scripture. This would undoubtedly improve user's experiences and (in recognition that Logos is a company) provide room for growth in customer base. A great recent example of this is that there is a Samsung VR app that allows you to walk around and learn information about Mecca (an experience that I otherwise would miss out on as Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter); I have no interest whatsoever in becoming a Muslim, but it was an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed (I would even have paid a $1-3 to experience it). Now imagine if you could sell the experience of walking around the temples (from different eras), learn history about the struggle for the land from both religion's experts and be able to toggle the dome of the rock over where the temple is so that people could better understand the Jewish/Muslim struggle. And that is just one experience to be had. What if you could be standing at Solomon's Portico and have read from Acts the account of the Apostle's appearance before the Sanhedrin.
As far as technology is concerned you can start as simply as Google Cardboard or Daydream (to be expanded to all modern Android Devices) or Samsung Gear VR (I would opt cardboard/Daydream as there is an app that allows Google Cardboard to be used in Samsung Gear VR goggles). This smaller scale could be free-trial to small cost purchase (with in app-purchase or small subscription for monthly updated content [similar to Logos Now]). You could have the desktop version be processed through Steam for HTC-Vive and (if you use Samsung Gear VR, it was built in partnership with Oculus so the code would be fairly transferable to...) the Oculus Rift platform through the same store.
Other experiences to be had:
-Daily devotionals with different leading theologians.
-Site-specific experiences with scripture
-Model Representations of historic locations/events.
-Video experience with an underground church (could increase sympathy and understanding and further prayer for these churches).
-Worship with different tribes across the world with translation print (toggable).
I start to shiver thinking about all the experiences to be had.
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Thanks for the response. When I wrote this post I had not yet experienced any virtual reality or augmented reality, aside from trying on my brother's Samsung Gear VR. This week I purchased a used Oculus Rift and I must say it is *amazing* how much potential is here for education.
The sad thing is that (1) it's still very expensive technology (you need a computer that is more powerful than the average PC in addition to the headset and hand controls) and (2) it's hard to appreciate how amazing the technology is until you've actually had experience with it. Many people will be inclined to dismiss it as a gimmick or luxury gaming item until they've experienced apps like Google Earth VR, 3D Organon VR Anatomy, or Noda (a mind-mapping application in virtual reality).
This is a space that is currently wide open for a skilled Christian software developer. There are currently *no* Christian applications on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, or PSVR. The market is wide open for someone like FaithLife to pioneer.
VR will be a staple technology, but maybe not immediately. There is no doubt that VR/AR is going to be a staple of our technology. I think those in the tech business understand this which is why they are pouring money into developing the technology. Microsoft has spent a lot of resources on AR, but they are also making a big push into VR later this year (or next) with Dell, Lenovo, Acer, etc. jump into the game. Sony has committed tons of resources into the PSVR, Facebook as with the Rift, and Valve/Steam with the Vive. Clearly, tech companies have been convinced that this is a market to get in on... even though the average consumer hasn't been convinced yet. The only question is whether the current push for VR will continue to grow steadily until it is mainstream or whether it will shrink until the technology becomes more affordable in 10 years. The technology isn't perfect. (I) The price point for entry is fairly high. (ii) The headsets still have something that has been called a "screen door effect". In order for VR to look good it needs to have a high resolution, because the display screen is being held very close to your face. Even though the display resolution on the Rift and Vive are 1920x1080 for each eye, having these screens as close to your face as they are creates an effect that is similar to 720p. This has been described as though you are standing close to a screen door. Having used the Rift I can say that it's not quite the same as staring outside your screen door with your nose against it (its actually more subtle than that and you aren't aware of it once you are immersed in the experience) but that's probably the closest real-life analogy. (iii) The headsets are heavy enough that it is easy to be aware of an object resting against your face. As I played some immersive experiences, watching a T-Rex walk over me as I stood in a museum or as I played Chronos, I lost all awareness of the VR headset pressing against my face (and the screen door effect). (iv) The headsets are tethered to a computer.
Each of these concerns will be addressed by advances in technology within the next 10 years and probably within the next 5. Higher resolutions (1440p) will be possible, negating the screen door effect. 1080p resolutions need to be kept available at the same time, in order to make the price of entry cheap. Headsets will be slimmer and lighter. HTC Vive is already working on a wireless headset, Hololense is already wireless (but $3k), and Microsoft is working with Acer, Dell, Lenovo etc. to bring $300 wireless headsets to the average consumer later this year or next.
Are mobile devices a good entry point? One thing mentioned specifically by Michael S. Buckley that I wanted to address. You suggest that an experience on an android VR device might be a point of entry for hooking people into an Oculus or HTC Vive experience. I'm really not sure if that's a good idea. In my opinion, the gulf between Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift or HTC Vive is miles apart. The mobile VR experiences may even be harming the public's opinion about the viability of higher end VR devices like the Rift and Vive.
Anecdotally, my family members had two different mobile VR experiences. On the one hand, my brother received a free Samsung Gear VR with his phone. He thought it was cool but I don't think it made him think that he needed to purchase a $600-$800 high-end VR headset and a $900 PC with a strong GPU to use the high-end headset. Like most people, he has an average small-tower PC (or laptop) with a GPU that is much less capable than a GTX 970. So the price for entry into high quality VR for my brother would be close to $2,000. On the other hand, my nephew got a third party VR headset for his phone for Christmas. The experience was horrible. The headset kept pushing against the volume buttons on the phone and the Google Play Store was terribly disorganized and we never found any quality VR apps. He played with it for about 10 minutes on Christmas and hasn't touched it since.
Having used my brother's Gear VR some I can see how the average person might think it's cool technology. But having recently acquired the Oculus Rift... there is (almost) no comparison. The difference in terms of immersion that is accomplished by (1) higher graphics and (2) touch controls is hard to communicate. That's another drawback to high-end VR. It's something that you almost have to experience to understand the value of it. This is why I'm not sure that mobile is a successful entry point into high-end VR. It's sort of like saying a 3D lenticular bookmark is a good selling point on why we need 3D IMAX movies... although that's not a great analogy if, like me, you don't care about the 3D part of IMAX movies.
P.S. The PC I'm using for VR is custom built: i5, GTX 1070, 16gb Ram... It cost me about $800 to build but it was built over time and I saved money on carry-over parts (like the psu). It runs every VR game I've tried perfectly, so don't think you need an i7 or a 1080.
Potato resting atop 2020 Mac Pro stand.
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Well, Remington, I guess I'm an unreformed 1st-gen try-er out-er. An early Apple, early Amiga, and earliest clamshell. Since then, bunches of software languages for machine intelligence, visualization, etc.
But I think Mr Jobs nailed it, when he refused styli for mobiles ... people don't like to look dorky. It's ok spinning your contact list with your finger ... just don't look dorky. An NYTimes article last week discussed the demise of 3D. The issue ... dorky (and eyes).
Not to say Oculus won't be a winner ... but not for mainstream ... contra FB-guy.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Hey Denise. Interesting perspective. I didn't know Steve Jobs didn't like a pen feature because it looked dorky. I always assumed it was because the pen was another referral that would be easy to lose. But either way, Jobs seems to have been proven wrong. The Samsung Galaxy Note has been a great success, sans blowing people up. The Microsoft Surface line of devices also saw enough success that Apple felt they needed to match the pen feature.
The whole idea of what looks dorky is a fickle accident of culture and subcultures that is always changing. Holding a pen to a phone or iPad is dorkier looking than to a piece of paper? 80s fashion looks dorky today and our fashion would have looked dorky to them (who could have predicted that the geeky look would be so popular among young people today?) No I think trying to gauge the success of technology by how you imagine you look while using it is a very poor strategy. VR may never be mainstream for various reasons, but it won't be because a person feels dorky using it. In fact your bodily reactions while using it is one of it's appeals b/c most of those action are translated into the virtual world, making it feel natural and immersive (this is where mobile vr falls short though)
Potato resting atop 2020 Mac Pro stand.
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